Shomei Tomatsu
13 May - 13 Aug 2006
Shomei Tomatsu
Eiko ôshima, Actress in the Film Shiiku (Prize Stock), 1961, printed 2003
Gelatin silver print
Promised gift of Shirley Ross Sullivan to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
© 2006 Shomei Tomatsu
Eiko ôshima, Actress in the Film Shiiku (Prize Stock), 1961, printed 2003
Gelatin silver print
Promised gift of Shirley Ross Sullivan to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
© 2006 Shomei Tomatsu
Shomei Tomatsu
Skin of the Nation
May 13, 2006 - August 13, 2006
Little known outside his home country, Shomei Tomatsu is widely considered the most important figure in Japanese postwar photography. His photographs span more than 50 years, examining, in an absolutely personal and unique vision, the island nation in the years since World War II. Cinematic in scope and presentation, the approximately 240 photographs on view in Skin of the Nation — the first major American retrospective of Tomatsu’s work — provide a candid look at the aftereffects of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the influence of American military and popular culture, and the impact of the post-1960s economic boom in Japan. Comprising black-and-white as well as color pictures, the exhibition conveys a quiet brilliance, celebrating the photographer's uncompromising regard toward a complex, nuanced subject.
Skin of the Nation
May 13, 2006 - August 13, 2006
Little known outside his home country, Shomei Tomatsu is widely considered the most important figure in Japanese postwar photography. His photographs span more than 50 years, examining, in an absolutely personal and unique vision, the island nation in the years since World War II. Cinematic in scope and presentation, the approximately 240 photographs on view in Skin of the Nation — the first major American retrospective of Tomatsu’s work — provide a candid look at the aftereffects of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the influence of American military and popular culture, and the impact of the post-1960s economic boom in Japan. Comprising black-and-white as well as color pictures, the exhibition conveys a quiet brilliance, celebrating the photographer's uncompromising regard toward a complex, nuanced subject.